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E. W. CHRISTIE.

CONDENSING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20, 1911.

Patented N W. 25, 1919 State of New Jersey for condensing steam, but

ftherefore, I provide a condenser which may comprise a shell having a plurality of tubes ED sparse rnrnn'r QEFKQEQI I i I CHRISTIE, OF SEWAEEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WHEELER CONDENSER AND ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF GARTEBE'I, NEW JERSEY, A COREOMTION OF NEW JERSEY.

- OONDENSIFNG APPARATUS.

-To all whom z'tmay concern: V

Be it known that I EvI W. Cnms'rm, a citizen ofthe United States .residmg at 'Sewaren, in the county of 'ddlesex and provement in Condensing eigparatus, of which the follow' is a sp cation.

' This invention-re ates. to a condensing apparatus, and particularly to an apparatus will be understood is not necessarily so h mi-ted. The invention furthermore relates to an apparatus in the use of which the principle is utilized of transferring the latent heat of steam, or

other va or to be condensed, through a relatively I in wall, preferably of metal, to a layer or film of water or other liquid on the opposite surface of the wall, and passing a current of air over the layer or film of go liquid, raising its, temperature, and saturating the air with the liquid vapor which is carried away by the same, whereby a sumciently low temperature is maintained on the said opposite surface of the wall to cause the transfer of the'l-atent heat in the steam,

or other vapor to be condensed. Consequently the same purpose is accomplished in the use of the invcntlon herein set forth as is now done in ordinary steam condenser so practice, by transferring heat from the steam to a body of circulating.; cooling water and then re-transferring the heat from the water to the atmosphere by passing the water over a cooling tower.

In carrying out 'my present invention placed in vertical ositions therein and aga nst the outer sur ace of which the steam 4a or other vapor to be condensed is brought into contact, while at the upper end each tube i provlded with meansfor admitting thereto an annular stream of water so as to initially cover the'inner surface of the tube Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 20, 1917. Serial No. 149,721.

have invented an Im- Patented Nov. 25, 1919.

stood, has its temperature raised and. become saturated with water vapor, taken up from the film of water, so that by this application of the principle of evaporation the temperature on the inner surface of the tube is maintained sufficiently low to cause the transfer of the latent heat from the steam directed against the outer surface of the tubes. I heoretically the amount of cooling evaporated at the end of itsstravel therethrough, but as will be understood in practice there is likely to be an excess of water which will escape at the bottom of the tubes. In order to provide for this I may employ a suitable pump for reconveying such excess water to the reservoir at the top of the condenser to which the cooling water is originally supplied. I may also employ a suitable air urmp with connections therefrom to the interior of the condenser shell for maintaining a vacuum therein, and the degree of vacuum maintained in the use of the condenser herein described depend upon the temperature of the cooling water employed, and also the temperature and do cc of the humidity of the air passed throng the tubes and over the cooling water so that under,

denser and the apparatus which may be 7 used in connection therewith,

Fig. 2 is a partial plan on an enlarged I scale of the end of one of the wndenser tubes and the pipe employed in conjunction 45 in a thin layer or film, in order that by the action of gravity this film may normally descend in contact with the inner surface of the tube to which it is sup lied" and at a the bottom of the condenser tu es l employ 50 means for creating and passing through the same a draft of air, which, as will be underploy a condenser shell 10 made in the usual manner, and as is customary, provided at its opposite ends with tube plates 11 and 12,

fitted in and extending between which and' lying within the shell of the condenser there is a plurality of condenser tubes 13. The

condenser shell and tube plates and parts associated therewith may be connected in.

. inlet nozzle 15 and with an outlet 16 for the air and water of condensation, it being understood that the steam inlet 15 is connected with the exhaust from a prime mover, While the outlet 16, as illustrated, can be connected by a pipe 17 with an air pump 18 to create and maintain a vacuum within the shell of the condenser.

It will be noted that in carrying out this invention in the form illustrated, it is necessary to fit the condenser with the tubes in a vertical position, and at the upper end of the condense! the same is provided with a reservoir 19 in which there is a water supply inlet 20 connected by a suppl pipe 21 with any suitable source for supp ying the cooling water. The upper end of each condenser tube 13 is provided with a relatively short pipe 22 of appreciably smaller outer diameter than the inner diameter of the tube to which it is fitted. may be placed in position concentrically with the condenser tubes in any desired manner. As illustrated, I have shown the upper ends of the condenser tubes provided with lugs or projections 23 for supporting the short pipes 22 which extend through a plate 24 fitted in the reservoir for centering and maintaining the short pipes in position. The object of employing these pipes is to feed the cooling water to the interior of each condenser tube in the form of an annular wall, leaving space for air to pass through the tube in the opposite direction.

At the lower end of the condenser, and suitably mounted and secured thereto, I employ an air box member 25. This is preferably in the form of an elbow, one end of which is attached to the condenser, while at the other end it is provided with a fan-or blower 26 mounted on a shaft 27 which is journaled at one end in a bearing 28 provided therefor in the walls of the water box, and adjacent the other end in bearing 29 mounted on a bracket 30 suitably connected to the air box 25. On this end of the shaft 27 a pulley 31 is mounted for turning the shaft and driving the fan. The air box 25 in the lower and undermostpart thereof is provided with a discharge nozzle 32 from which the pipe 33 leads to the suction of a pum 34, the discharge from which by a pipe is connected to the reservoir 19.

These short pipes 22 In the use of this apparatus, as maybe gathered from the foregoing description, the coolin water is supplied to the reservoir 19 throug source, and by means of the short pipes 22 is fed to the interior of the condenser tubes the pipe 21 from any suitable in a film covering the inner surfaces thereof the water cannot overflow into and pass through the same.

It will be furthermore understood that as herein shown and described, this invention is particularly applicable to condensing steam, but that its use is not so limited, as it may be used for other purposes, for example, in evaporating apparatus where the present practice is to have the tubes in the calandria filled with liquid and the liquid boiled b the application of steam on'the other si e of the tubes. 'AsWill be apparent these tubes can be readily changed to film evaporators by merely inserting the tubes in the upper end of the heating surface which would also eliminate any tendency to prime over from one vessel to another.

I claim as my invention.

1. A condensing apparatus comprising a shell, a plurality of condenser tubes mounted therein, an open reservoir at the top of the condenser shell, a spacer plate inthe res-' ervoir, a plurality of relatively short pipes each spaced at its upper end in the said plate and extending at its lower end into a condenser tube, a plurality ,of lugs in the upper end of each condenser tube for receiving, centering, and supporting the short pipe that extends into the same so as to provide a uniformly annular passage between the condenser tube and the short pipe, and means for passing a current of air upwardly through the said condenser tubes and pipes and into the reservoir at the top of the condenser so that it may escape to the atmosphere.

2. A condensing apparatus comprising a shell, a plurality of condenser tubes mounted therein, an open reservoir at the top of the-condenser shell, a spacer plate in the reservoir, a plurality of relativel short pipes each spaced at its upper en in the said plate and extending at its lower end into a condenser tube, a plurality of lugs in the upper end of each condenser tube for receiving, centering, and supporting the pipes, and a connection from the said box to short pipe that extends into the same so as the said reservoir for conveying from the 10 to provide a uniformly annular passage bebox to the reservoir any water which. may tween the condenser tube and the short pipe, reach the box from the condenser tubes.

a curved box at the lower end of'the con- Signed by me this 14 day of February, denser, a blower associated with the said box 1917 for creating a currcnt of the air to be passed I through the condenser tubes and short EVI W. CHRISTIE. 

